Trade News

MUNICH -- Volkswagen plans to crack an industry barrier and offer used-vehicle leases on its ID family of electric vehicles, including those in North America, as a strategy to keep control over their valuable batteries, VW executives told Automotive News.

Speaking on Monday with journalists here at the Munich auto show, Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess said the secondary leases would allow VW to recycle the valuable battery packs into new uses, including home power centers and fast chargers.

"In Europe, we are trying to get a second lease and even a third lease, and keep the car in our hands," Diess told a group of American automotive journalists, adding later that the same plan would be rolled out in North America. "Battery life, we think today is about 1,000 charging cycles and around 350,000 kilometers [about 215,000 miles], something like that. So, the battery would probably live longer than the car, and we want to get hold of the battery. We don't want t…

BEIJING -- Japanese automakers Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Corp. and Toyota Motor Coirp. saw their sales in China tumble in August as a chip shortage hit vehicle production in the world's biggest car market.

Honda said it sold 91,694 vehicles in China last month, down 38 percent from a year earlier due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a shortage of components.

Nissan said it sold 113,166 cars in China in August, down 11 percent, due to "external headwinds including on-going pandemic, material shortage and natural disasters across the country".

Toyota said it sold 144,800 cars last month there, down 12 percent from the same month last year.

A prolonged global chip shortage has caught major automakers including Ford Motor, General Motors and Volkswagen off guard, forcing many to idle or curtail production.

The shortage was unlikely to be resolved soon as the pandemic rages on in many parts of the world, China's top auto industry body said last …

BEIJING -- Geely has hired Stefan Sielaff, the former design chief of British luxury brand Bentley, as China's manufacturers increasingly turn to new styles to boost sales in the world's biggest car market.

Sielaff, who also worked for Volkswagen Group and Daimler AG, will be based in Sweden's Gothenburg and lead design of the domestic Geely, Zeekr, Lynk & Co and Geometry brands, the company said in a statement.

He will not manage design for Geely's Volvo and Polestar brands.

Chinese car companies historically rolled out models that looked similar to foreign brands. But as sales increased, many -- including Geely, Great Wall and BYD -- have built up their own studios, usually led by international designers, to create fresh designs.

Hangzhou-based Geely, which owns Volvo Cars and a 9.7 percent stake in Daimler, has turned to more sporty designs to boost car prices. Sales at rival Changan jumped this year thanks to its more futuristic designs, w…

China needs to adapt regulatory measures to guard against Internet and data security risks associated with the development of intelligent vehicles, such as the unauthorized collection of personal information, according to an official at the information technology ministry.

“If regulatory measures cannot keep up in time, network security issues such as network attacks and network intrusions may post major security risks,”  Xin Guobin, a vice minister with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a forum in the city of Tianjin on Saturday.

Industry regulators will require companies to conduct self-inspections on automobile data security, network security and software upgrades, Xin said. It will study entrance standards for access to the intelligent-car network, according to the vice minister.

Xin, who forecast China’s sales of alternate-energy vehicles may rise to more than 1.7 million in the first eight months of this year and acc…

MUNICH -- Mercedes-Benz previewed the EQS large full-electric SUV with a concept for the ultraluxury Maybach brand.

The Concept Mercedes-Maybach EQS was unveiled at the Munich auto show on Monday.

It's a physical concept with a virtual interior designed to recreates the "feel-good atmosphere of an elegant yacht," Mercedes said in a statement.

The concept is a "near production" preview of the first full-electric model from Maybach, Mercedes said.

"We are extending our leadership aspirations in the high-end segment to the area of electric mobility," said Philipp Schiemer, head of the Top End Vehicle Group at Mercedes Cars. The Top End group includes Maybach, AMG and the G-Class.

The concept has Maybach's signature two-tone paint finish but otherwise presents a "completely new appearance" for the brand with its smooth exterior design, Mercedes design chief Gorden Wagener said in the statement.

"We are completely redefining the luxury S…

China's Great Wall Motors is returning to Europe with a new premium strategy after failing to win over customers for budget vehicles.

Great Wall Europe launched a plug-in hybrid under the premium Wey brand and a more youth-focused electric small car from its Ora brand at the Munich IAA auto show on Monday.

The launch country for Wey will be Germany, followed by either Italy or Spain, then a Europewide rollout, Johnson Qiang, Great Wall's executive vice president for Europe, told Automotive News Europe on the eve of the show.

Qiang said Germany was chosen because it is Europe's largest vehicle market and because Wey wants to establish itself as a premium automotive brand. To do that it needs to compete against powerhouses such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

"We have confidence in the product," he said.

Qiang said Ora will debut in one of Europe's five largest markets -- Germany, the U.K., France, Italy and Spain -- or in one of the Nordic …

Volkswagen Group's partner developing self-driving technology is just a few months away from starting to test autonomous vehicles on public roads in Germany.

Argo AI already has the largest test footprint of any autonomous vehicle company, with cars operating in six cities across the U.S., CEO Bryan Salesky said at an event Sunday with his VW counterpart Herbert Diess.

The startup will deploy in Hamburg, Germany, and just opened a test track adjacent to the Munich airport.

"Public road testing is really a few months away," Salesky said. "We are very close."

VW and Argo are debuting their test vehicle this week at the Munich auto show, Europe's first auto forum since before the pandemic.

They will use a special version of the ID Buzz -- an electric iteration of the famed microbus VW was known for in the 1960s -- equipped with cameras, radar and lidar sensors that detect objects more than 400 meters away.

"Autonomous driving will enti…

When the pandemic began last year, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles reviewed its manufacturing processes and work stations to ensure employees would be safe while still churning out quality vehicles.

FCA had a stellar showing in 2020's J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, with Dodge becoming the first domestic brand to lead the rankings and Ram jumping to third place from below average previously. To keep that momentum going, the company would have to adjust to a health crisis that reshaped the factory environment — and based on this year's study, it did just that.

Ram claimed the No. 1 spot for the first time, followed by Dodge in second place. Jeep joined its stablemates in the upper tier by moving up three spots to a tie for eighth.

The success was a product of both vehicle design and discipline in the assembly plants, said Mark Champine, head of North America customer experience at Stellantis, the entity formed by FCA's January merger with PSA Group. Read more about Top J.D. Power ratings for Ram, Dodge validate FCA’s efforts

Mazda's rapidly evolving lineup is moving in several different directions at once.

Smaller vehicles are getting more luxurious on the high trims but remaining affordable at the base. A new rear-wheel-drive, large-product platform is being developed to take on premium brands. And there's a greater focus on all-wheel drive, even on cars.

Meanwhile, the Japanese brand is planning hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles, some likely using technology from automotive partner Toyota. The two automakers are near completion of a joint-venture assembly plant in Alabama that will build distinct vehicles for each of them.

For Mazda's current small-platform vehicles, the Mazda3 sedan/hatchback was redesigned for 2019, and the CX-30 crossover was new for 2020. The top-selling CX-5 is ready for a significant freshening. And the Mazda6 midsize sedan and CX-3 subcompact crossover are discontinued.

Mazda's large-product platform under development will use …